With the presence of Javier Milei, Nayib Bukele began his second consecutive presidential term in El Salvador this Saturday. After being sworn in, he spoke to the people from the balcony of the National Palace and said that the country “has already been cured of the gangs” and that now “we must fix the economy.”
The popular Salvadoran president begins a new mandate with almost absolute power and without political opposition, with the challenge of maintaining security in the country and achieving the economic prosperity that he promised during his campaign.
Dressed in a suit with a gold collar and cuffs, Bukele, 42, was sworn in by show of hands and received the presidential sash from parliamentary leader Ernesto Castro, before international dignitaries at the National Palace, in the historic center of San Salvador.
“Bukele, Bukele!” shouted, between volleys, thousands of supporters who filled the square in front of the palace, under an intense sun. Shortly after, a military parade began, with planes leaving a trail of blue and white, the colors of the Salvadoran flag.
From early on, one by one, the foreign guests arrived at the National Palace to attend the official ceremony. Among others, the King of Spain, Felipe VI, sat in the large patio of the building; the president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, and that of Paraguay, Santiago Peña.
Bukele, a 42-year-old millennial who knew how to work in advertising, takes the oath after winning re-election with almost absolute power and without political oppositionwith the challenge of maintaining security in the country and achieving the economic prosperity that he promised during his campaign.
This former publicist of Palestinian descent undertakes another five-year term after pulverizing the opposition and obtaining a historic 85% of votes in the February elections, where he also won a large majority in Congress, obtaining 54 of the 60 seats.
Very sure of himself, Bukele defines himself as a “cool dictator” to mock those who accuse him of authoritarianism and of maintaining power thanks to like-minded judges who interpreted the law to allow his reelection, despite being prohibited in the Constitution.
The war against crime
Considered the most popular president in Latin America according to the NGO Latinobarómetro, Bukele came to power in 2019 promising subdue the gangsto which it attributes 120,000 deaths in three decades, more than the 75,000 during the civil war (1980-1992).
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This is how the King of Spain Felipe VI entered the inauguration ceremony of Nayik Bukele in El Salvador
According to him, under his government El Salvador went from being the “most dangerous country in the world” without war to the “safest in the Western Hemisphere.”
But to do so, El Salvador lives under an emergency regime that was established in March 2022 and has accumulated 80,300 alleged gang members detained without a court order.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International they denounce deaths and torture, and thousands of innocents among the 8,000 people who should have been released.
After taking neighborhoods and streets of almost the entire country from the gangs, analysts point out that Your challenge will be the economy, since poverty punishes almost a third of the population.
Congressional control
With a Congress where his Nuevas Ideas party has 54 of the 60 seats, Bukele has free rein to reform the Constitution, after deputies approved in April a mechanism to accelerate possible changes. Analysts maintain that he could go towards a “dictatorial scheme” and indefinite re-election.
With gelled hair and a trimmed beard, Bukele built his image through social networks, where he usually writes in English. In X, where he calls himself “Philosopher King”, he makes important announcements and mocks his critics.
The challenge of the economy
After reducing the violence that plagued the country due to gang action to historic lows, Bukele must, according to analysts, Focus now on economic problems. It is essential that you attend high public debt and povertythey warn.
“The government has a lot of tendency to get into debt, but one does not see with that debt an improvement” in the country, says economist César Villalona, who commented that “industrial and agricultural production has lost weight.”
A stall selling vegetables in a market in San Salvador. Poverty spreads. Photo. AFP Since 2019, when Bukele assumed power, the public debt increased from 19.8 billion to 30.016 million dollars, equivalent to 84% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In that period, poverty went from 22.8% in 2019 to 27.2% in 2023, all according to official data.
In 2023, foreign direct investment was 759 million dollars, compared to 171 million in 2022, according to official figures. But many do not feel the benefit of investments in megaprojects on beaches or in the real estate sector.
